Goodbye Stabler
by FosterThePeople
Summary: The way Elliot Stabler should of left the force.


Just an idea I got about how Stabler should of left the show. Never wrote a Law & order SVU fic, so go easy on me. I know it's probably not that good. But I wrote it, I couldn't just let it sit in my files.

-Thanks

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><p>Elliot Stabler stayed up that whole night. It was the night of the horrible precinct shooting. The one with that young girl. He shot her. He had to. She was armed and dangerous. Guilt consumed him and he couldn't function. The rest of the week went on and every night felt like that same night. He had barely slept and the investigation was over. The scene just kept playing over and over in his head. Elliot hoped it was a temporary feeling that he could shake. But he couldn't. He'd been distracted at work and he hadn't had a real conversation with anyone since the incident. This resulted in his wife's anger. Elliot moped around the house and didn't even answer her. He couldn't bring himself to telling her about the shooting. Olivia and the guys at the precinct thought his strange behavior was about marital problems so they didn't ask.<p>

Elliot found it hardest to be at work. He and Olivia were staking out a sneaker factory/ meth lab, where child prostitutes were being forced to work, and he wasn't even paying attention. All he could think about was that girl he killed and her family. Words couldn't even begin to explain how sorry he was.

"El? El! Elliot!" Olivia yelled.

"What?" Elliot said as he came back from his nightmare of thoughts. He flinched.

"Are you alright? You were shaking" Olivia asked with concerned.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine" Elliot said quickly as he scrambled through the evidence folder that was sitting on his lap. He was trying to remember where they were and why they were on a stake out. "How did I even drive here?" he thought.

Olivia stared at him in disbelief. "Could his marital problems be this bad, again?" she thought. Olivia let her mind wander and soon she started to worry about Elliot. He'd always been a tough and angry cop, she rarely saw him like this.

He threw down the papers frustratedly. Elliot leaned his elbow on the car door and held his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Liv, where are we?" Elliot asked. He was embarrassed to ask that, but he needed to know. He knew if he wasn't properly informed he could endanger a victim.

Olivia hesitated as she looked at him in confusion.

"We're um..at the Warner sneaker factory. Multiple sources confirm that there are children being forced to..."

"Work the meth lab and the street corners, okay now I remember" Elliot said.

"...Yeah. We're just waiting on the warrant and then it's over" Olivia said.

Elliot nodded.

"You're not okay, are you" Olivia said.

"Liv I'm fine" Elliot said.

Olivia looked at Elliot and he looked at her, when he realized she was staring.

"Your eyes..they're bloodshot. My god, have you been sleeping?" Olivia asked.

Elliot swallowed nervously.

"Of course I have" Elliot lied and looked out the window.

Olivia paused, then put her hand on Elliot's shoulder.

"Are things really that bad with Kathy?" She asked softly.

"What? No. Is that what this is about? You think this is about Kathy?" Elliot asked with a little hostility in his voice.

"I'm sorry" Olivia said quietly.

Elliot could see that she felt hurt.

"No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say that" Elliot said.

Olivia nodded.

A minute later..

"It's the shooting..I haven't slept through the night for a week now...I can't get it out of my head" Elliot said as he put his hand over his eyes.

"Wait, you mean Jenna? El, that wasn't your fault. She had a gun" Olivia said.

Elliot shrugged.

"She shot three perps and an innocent nun" Olivia said defensively.

"I know but she was just a kid. And I killed her" Elliot said.

Olivia looked at Elliot sympathetically. She reached out and held his hand.

"You can't let that haunt you El. You stopped her from shooting a lot of innocent people" Olivia said.

Elliot looked at their joined hands. He squeezed Olivia's hand lightly. She always knew the right thing to say to him, but this time it wasn't helping him. He leaned over the seat to hug Olivia.

She was surprised but she hugged him back. Olivia could really tell he needed that hug. After a minute, she pulled back a bit to see him. She put her hands on each side of his face as he still held her.

"Your going to be okay" Olivia said gently.

Elliot smiled a bittersweet smile, then a serious look showed on his face. He made eye contact with Olivia again and stared for a good ten seconds before leaning in to kiss her.

She was even more surprised this time. Shocked, in fact. This had never happened before, and he was married. Her hands fell off his face and to her sides. Elliot put one of his hands on her face as he kissed her. After Olivia got out of the shock she started to enjoy it. Feeling a bit guilty she started participating in the kiss. A small amount of years of sexual tension, between her and her partner were finally being released. He kissed her for at least thirty seconds and then stopped.

All they could do was stare at each other as they caught their breaths. They kept the embrace.

"I don't think I could leave without knowing what that would be like" Elliot said.

Olivia looked at him confused.

"Liv, it's my last case. I'm retiring" Elliot said.

"What?" Olivia said as she ended the embrace and moved back.

"I'm sorry" Elliot said.

"Stabler, Benson, You got the warrant, head in" The radio said.

Elliot pressed a button on his radio.

"Fin, this one is yours" Elliot said.

"What?" Fin responded.

"The warrant is cleared, this is your case now" Elliot said.

Fin was in his car, a block away. He was their backup.

"Affirmative" Fin replied with a small laugh.

Olivia was too freaked out by the news to care about Stabler giving away the case, she'd been working on all week.

"Retiring? Elliot, you'll get through this. You don't have to retire" Olivia said.

"I know I don't. But I want to. I've been doing this too long and my kids need me alive" Elliot said with a weak laugh towards the end.

Olivia shook her head. She didn't know what to say.

"I can't do it anymore Liv, it's too much" Elliot said.

"You'll be missed" Olivia said quietly.

Elliot smiled and then Olivia force smiled.

Elliot went to hug her again.

"Please don't go" Olivia whispered.

Elliot took a minute to let those words soak in. They hurt him badly. He kissed her cheek then moved back in his seat. Elliot faced Olivia once more.

"I love yah Liv" Elliot said.

Tears started falling from Olivia's eyes. She wiped them away and nodded.

"I love you too" Olivia said as new tears fell from her eyes.

She reached out and held his hand once again.

Elliot opened his car door and started to get out of car. He didn't let go of her hand. When he was standing, he looked at her for a moment, then released.

Elliot closed the car door and left Olivia there alone. She watched him. He walked about ten feet from the car, before hailing a cab. He got in and didn't look back. The cab took off.

"Detective Stabler off duty" Elliot said through his police radio.

Olivia heard the feed through her radio and started crying again. Fifteen minutes later, she got out of the car and walked around to the drivers seat. Olivia started the engine and drove back to the precinct.

"Ey Liv, we got the creep" Fin said through the radio.

The end.

Please review. Thanks so much for reading.


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